Dream for You
by See Them Llamas Run
Summary: [Oneshot] Shigure remembers when he was little and Akito asked him a question. Spoilers.


A/N: Get ready for some sappy Akigure romance! W00t! Oh yeah, beware of maaaaaaajor spoilers for...chapter 97, I think it is.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fruits Basket, there would be _no_ Fruits Basket, because I'm not smart enough to think up such a plot.

**Dream for Her**

Shigure Sohma was one of those people who never gave up on his dreams. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), he was also one of those people that was always told by everyone that his dreams were impossible. But no matter how far fetched his ideas seemed, the dog always found a way to make them just a little bit more reachable.

There was one dream, however, that even he had trouble believing would ever come true. It was something he dared not think about, lest he be reduced into an emotional mess. He had only ever spoken about it once, and even then, he hadn't been the one to bring it up. It was about fourteen years ago, when he was thirteen years old.

"Shigure?"

He looked up from his homework to see a fragile little girl standing shyly in the doorway. The family had some matters to settle, so all of the Jyuunishi and their families were staying at the main house this night. Nearly everyone was asleep, but Shigure had a test the next day that he had put off studying for. "Hello, Akito-san," said he, smiling warmly upon seeing his goddess. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Can't sleep." She quickly sat next to him on the ground.

Shigure closed his book, giving his full attention to Akito. "Why's that?"

Looking down, her face saddened a little. "I don't like what the grownups talk about."

"Yeah, me neither," the dog said with a sigh. All they had been discussing was about the curse and the fates of the Jyuunishi. Shigure wondered why they couldn't just let things be.

The two were silent for a moment, until Shigure asked, "Why aren't you just playing with Yuki?"

"He's asleep, too," Akito answered simply.

He felt a little happy that she would rather come to see him than wake the Rat. _What's so special about him anyways?_ he thought to himself. Shigure had always secretly been jealous of Yuki, because Akito thought he was so perfect and beautiful. All she ever did any more was spend time with him. "But why come see me," he asked, trying not to sound rude, "when you can just wake him up?"

"Because I want to play with…_you_." Akito almost looked as if she was blushing.

Shigure felt his joy shoot through the roof, but tried not to let it show too much. Still, there was a huge smile on his face. "Well, all right," he said. "But we have to be quiet, or else we'll get in trouble."

The little girl completely ignored him and cried, "Yay!" as she threw her arms around him. "Let's play a pretend game! We haven't played one of those in a real _long_ time!"

"A pretend game?" he questioned. "Like what?"

"Like House!" she said with a giggle. "Where you can go to work and I'll stay home and cook and then – "

She stopped, mid-sentence, as something crossed her mind.

"What? What is it?"

"Um…" Akito had been wondering about it for nearly a month, but wasn't sure whether it was appropriate to bring it up. But now Shigure knew there was something on her mind, so she figured she might as well tell him. "Shigure, are you going to marry me?"

Shigure felt his face turn several shades of crimson. "I…what…" he stuttered.

Akito immediately realized this was the _wrong_ thing to ask. "Um, I mean like pretend!" she said quickly. "Like on House."

The dog let out a huge sigh of relief (and slight disappointment). "Ohhhh…I get it." He smiled. "Maybe one day we will get married. For pretend, I mean."

"W-What would that be like…?" she asked.

Seeing that she wasn't going to drop the subject, Shigure decided to play along. "Oh, I suppose we would have it in a…a garden."

"A garden?" Her eyes went wide with wonder.

"A flower garden," he confirmed. "There would be lots and lots of different flowers…but mostly there would be Tsubakis."

Akito listened intently.

"There wouldn't be very many people there. Only really close friends and family. My hair would be brushed back nicely," _for once in my life_, he thought, "and I'd be wearing a black tuxedo – "

"With a Tsubaki in your pocket?"

Shigure smiled and nodded.

"I think you would look very nice in a tuxedo," said Akito.

"But I won't look anything near to as beautiful as _you'll_ be." He stroked her hair softly. "You'll have a big white wedding gown on, and a veil over your long, black hair. You'll have flowers in your hair, too. Little white and red ones, here and here and here." Akito giggled as he poked her head in three places. "You'll look like a big valentine…on Christmas morning!" he exclaimed joyously.

The girl now had a sad smile on her face. "But…we can't have any of that…can we, Shigure?"

Shigure frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I'm…a little boy."

Suddenly folding her in his arms, he said, "No. You're too pretty." She giggled at him again.

The two were silent for a while, and it wasn't long before they fell asleep in each other's arms. Shigure just wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go…he wanted to see her like he had described…

Because then she would be happy. He wanted her to be a happy little girl.

He still remembered it, vaguely, no matter how much he wanted to forget. He didn't want a false hope. But still, he prayed and did everything in his power to make that dream come true.

He wanted her to be happy. That was his dream for her.

--

A/N: The "valentine on Christmas morning" thing doesn't make very much sense, I guess… I just meant that she'll be pretty like a valentine and happy like on Christmas morning.


End file.
